Pricing fair trade products to include unpaid labour and empower women – the example of Nicaraguan sesame and coffee cooperatives

The paper discusses an initiative taking place in two cooperatives in Nicaragua. This involves the incorporation of a component for women’s unpaid work into the cost structures of Fair Trade contracts for coffee and sesame. The argument is that the unpaid work which is done mainly by women in the household and community represents an important input into production and one which should be valued and remunerated. Its recognition can both empower women and provide a fresh demonstration of the power of the cooperatives and Fair Trade in innovating so as to improve the conditions of disadvantaged people in their supply chains. The funding which has now been in place for two years has led to a number of very different projects for women. The involvement has spread not only to women doing unpaid work but also to women in low paid and marginalised jobs within the cooperatives. In particular, this raises the question of to whom the money allocated under this scheme should be paid, and whether it should primarily be used for collective or individual projects. This is an innovative development with the power fundamentally to change gender relations and empower women. It is significant that it is being pioneered in a poor country in the South rather than in the rich North. Este articulo analiza una iniciativa que tiene lugar en dos cooperativas de Nicaragua. Se incorpora al estudio el componente del trabajo no remunerado de las mujeres en el coste de las estructuras del comercio justo con contratos para el cafe y el sesamo. El argumento que se esgrime es que el trabajo no remunerado realizado principalmente por mujeres en el ambito domestico y de la comunidad representa un aporte importante a la produccion, que se debe valorar y remunerar. Su reconocimiento puede investir de poder a las mujeres y demostrar el poder de las cooperativas y el comercio justo para innovar y mejorar las condiciones de personas desfavorecidas en las cadenas de produccion y distribucion. La financiacion que se ha desarrollado durante dos anos ha dado lugar a diversos proyectos orientados a las mujeres. La participacion se ha extendido no solo a las mujeres que realizan trabajo no remunerado, sino tambien a las mujeres con empleos mal pagados y marginales dentro de las cooperativas. En particular, se cuestiona a quien se debe pagar el dinero generado bajo este esquema, y si debiera utilizar principalmente para desarrollar proyectos individuales o colectivos. Este es un desarrollo innovador que pretende modificar a fondo las relaciones de genero y el poder de las mujeres. Es significativo que se esta llevando a cabo por vez primera en un pais pobre del sur y no en uno rico del norte. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN : http://ssrn.com/abstract=2034322